A family has been left heartbroken following the death of a loving mother and father, who died from brain tumors just seven weeks apart.
Tragically, she has left her 13-year-old daughter orphaned.
Following the death of Ali Slaymaker, 49, on August 24, 2023, her partner Steve Morrissey, 50, and their daughter moved from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, to Cullompton, Devon, to be close to her family .
However, in 2022, in a tragic turn of events, Steve, a sales manager at Treatt (suppliers of flavor and fragrance ingredients), was diagnosed with glioblastoma, the fastest growing type of brain tumor, after suffering a unexpected seizure.
Scans confirmed he had a growth on the right side of his brain and sadly he passed away at Searle House hospice in Exeter.
Steve Morrisey (pictured) was diagnosed with glioblastoma, the fastest growing type of brain tumour, after suffering a seizure. The tragic news came weeks after he lost his wife to a brain tumor.
By the time Steve passed away, it had spread and grown to three brain tumors. He stopped working before his death, allowing her to move to Devon in the fall of 2023.
Glioblastoma is the most common type of malignant brain tumor in adults, with a devastatingly short average survival time of six months if untreated and only 12 to 18 months with an intensive, invasive treatment plan.
Only after his death did Steve’s nephew Ben Brown, of Tiverton, discover how underfunded brain tumor research is.
This has inspired him and a group of nine other of Steve’s family, friends and work colleagues to organize a 280 mile fundraising bike ride from Bury St Edmunds to Cullompton, which was Steve’s final ride, in aid from Brain Tumor Research.
The 31-year-old construction worker remembers: “Before my uncle collapsed, there was nothing before. He was fit and healthy.
‘We lost both him and Ali in such a short time. The whole situation is truly heartbreaking.
‘Thankfully, your daughter is doing very well considering what has happened. She is amazing.’
Ben paid tribute to Steve, saying: “He was a very stubborn man but he was just a lovely, kind and generous man who would do anything for anyone.”
Beloved mother Ali Slaymaker (pictured) passed away in August last year, leaving behind her 13-year-old daughter.
The fundraising challenge will begin on June 6 and will run for four days with the group having to complete 70 miles of cycling each day.
Ben, who bought a bike last December, has been training since the beginning of the year.
He admitted: “I’ve never done a long bike ride before.” It’s going to be very tough physically and mentally, but we’ve all been training hard for it, so we should be fine.
‘I wanted to do something for my uncle in his memory and, even more importantly, raise money for Brain Tumor Research because it is underfunded.
‘Brain tumors kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, but historically only one percent of national spending on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease.
‘I lost two members of my family last year and in 2014 one of my best childhood friends died from a brain tumour.
‘So that’s three people I know who have had it and it’s hard to understand. They and others are worth more than one percent of the funding.
“Seeing how brain tumors tear families apart has made me realize that we need to help make a change and I’m trying to do that by doing something positive.”
The aim is to raise £5,000. To donate to the fundraiser, click here.
It comes after a 33-year-old mother died after refusing cancer treatment so she could give birth to her first child.
Azzurra Carnelos, 33, from Oderzo, Italy, died of breast cancer last week, leaving behind her eight-month-old son Antonio.
The mother of one, who was a senior financial analyst at a bank, was first diagnosed in 2019 after a premonitory dream prompted her to get a check-up.
His mother, Antonella, told him The Treviso Tribune: ‘He had dreamed about his grandmother, who had died in the same way. She was telling him to get a checkup.
Azzurra began chemotherapy soon after, which put her breast cancer into remission, making it appear that she had overcome the disease.
In February of last year she received the unexpected news that she was pregnant. However, by July, her cancer had returned.
“She faced the discovery bravely, she rolled up her sleeves,” said Francesco, Azzurra’s husband. The Republic.
Her doctors advised her to start chemotherapy again, but Azzurra chose to delay treatment so she could carry her baby to term, telling her husband that “life must be defended.”
Francesco left his job to take care of his wife and lived in the hospital, where he ate and slept.
He told La Repubblica: ‘I left my job to be by his side 24 hours a day. I lived in the hospital, I slept there, I ate there.
“She faced every moment with courage and conviction,” he said. ‘I still remember her smile when our baby started saying “mama.” She was happy like this, despite everything. With her sacrifice she gave us life.
“Until the end we talked about how to raise our Antonio.”
After Azzurra gave birth, she quickly resumed cancer treatment, but it was too late.